We Are Creating Conducive Environment For 2015 Elections - DSS

DG, State Security Service, Mr. Ekpenyong Ita

          The Department of State Services (DSS) has said it is creating the right environment for the conduct of the 2015 general elections and would not allow divisive politicians and terrorists to truncate the nation’s democracy or undermine national security during the exercise.

The Director General of the service, Ekpenyong Ita, who gave the warning in his keynote address at the graduation ceremony of participants of the Execu­tive Intelligence Manage­ment Course (EIMC) at its Institute for Security Stud­ies in Abuja at the weekend, warned that the service will continue to adopt a comprehensive onslaught in handling unscrupulous politicians and the Islamic fundamentalists, Boko Haram, posing threat to national security in 2015. He assured that the service would make life unbearable for them.

According to him, it is the duty of security agencies to protect the sanctity of the electoral process as well as the Nation’s sovereign integrity at all times.

The DG said the operatives would strive to execute their mandate at all costs in spite of the daunting challenges ahead.

“Like every other country on earth today, Nigeria is grappling with its own share of global insecurity.’’ he said.

Ekpenyong said the service, in the last five years had recorded a modest achievement, adding that the government, public and stakeholders had approved of its efforts to ensure safe, stable and indivisible country.

In his words, “In the last five years, this service has recorded modest achievements. The government, public and other stakeholders have shown obvious approval of our efforts to ensure a safe, stable and indivisible Nige­ria.

“I wish to reiterate that Nigeria is on the path of lasting growth and devel­opment. And no machina­tion by uniformed terror elements, or unscrupulous politicians with divisive tendencies and other crimi­nal elements will succeed against the nation. We owe it a duty to protect and ensure the indivisibil­ity of the nation. This we must uphold in the face of enormous challenges,” he warned.

Enumerating the con­tributions of the service and readiness to uphold its mandate, the DSS boss stressed: “As a service, our response to prevailing threats to national security has been comprehensive.

“They include con­tinuous human capac­ity development, extensive intelligence collection programme, and collabo­ration with stakeholders both within and outside the country. Our intelligence collection efforts make threat indicators explicit and are also geared towards ensuring the success of government policies and programmes,” he noted.

Congratulating the EIMC graduates Ekpeyong said, “I want to commend our graduands for their commitment and dedication to this programme. Your graduation is coming at a time when politicking ahead of 2015 general elections has reached its crescendo."

“This course has equipped you with requisite knowledge, exposure and expertise to ensure a safe and stable environment in which the political processes can find a full expression.”

According to him, in response to prevailing threats to national security, the DSS has engaged in comprehensive measures to combat security challenges.

Monitor-General of the course, Denja Abdullahi, in his remarks, said 48 people participated in the nine months course.

He lauded the management of the service for working to transform the Institute for Security Studies into a Post Graduate Degree-awarding institution.